Sri Lankan Chefs Win International Acclaim

The Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management further made Sri Lanka proud not only as a potential destination not only for its historical and cultural values, mesmerizing locations and various travel choices, but also in the international culinary field, by becoming the winners of three main categories at the World food competition held in India, organized by the Guru Nanak Institute of Hotel Management, Kolkata, from 24^th February to 27^th February 2025. 22 countries participated at this event including South Africa, Russia, Indonesia, etc, showcasing their culinary talents and cuisine, iconic to each country. The event had several categories and Sri Lanka displayed their skills at the cake icing competition, Fruit carving, Mixology Competition and the Chef competition. Ms. Rashmi Randika from Sri Lanka showed her talent at the cake icing competition, while the 1^st runner up was from South Africa, and Ms. Upeka Ekanayake gained the 3^rd place while the winner of that Category was from Indonesia. Mauritius became the winner of the mixology competition, while the 1^st runner up was from Indonesia, and Mr. Chandula Ilangasinghe emerged as the 2^nd runner up. Russia dominated as the winner of the chef competition, while Indonesia and Switzerland became 1^st and 2^nd runners up respectively, whereas Ms. Anuradha from SLITHM participated.

After their arrival in Sri Lanka a special ceremony was hosted by the SLITHM in order to honor their achievements on behalf of Sri Lanka Tourism, under the patronage of Hon.  Deputy Minister of Tourism, Prof. Ruwan Ranasinghe , Chairman , SLITHM , Mr. Dheera Hettiarachchi , Ministry officials and students. The Hon. Minister elaborated on the huge impact that this achievement had conveyed, bringing international recognition upon the Sri Lanka with the SLITHM students culinary talents, and also displaying their potential to highlight Sri Lankan authentic cuisine to the world. Nevertheless, he further mentioned at the reception held, that this will be another important milestone highlighting Sri Lankan talent to the world through their excellent culinary skills.